Collision inquiry grinds into action

NEITHER THE FLIGHT data recorder (FDR) nor cockpit-voice recorder (CVR) of either of the airliners which collided on 12 November near New Delhi, India has been downloaded because the Court of Inquiry has yet to convene.

A decision on the arrangements for information downloading will be the Court's first task, according to the formal notification, which also states that the report should be submitted to the Indian Government by 15 February. The FDRs/ CVRs may be sent abroad for decoding.

Meanwhile, it has become clear that a review of the India's air-navigation system, including air-traffic procedures in New Delhi's vicinity, was already in progress at the time the collision occurred between the Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747-100B and Air Khazakhstan Ilyushin Il-76 (Flight International, 20-26 November).

The inquiry panel had recommended that arrival and departure corridors should be separated. When the collision occurred, the 747 was outbound and the Il-76 inbound, both on the same radial, which was the correct procedure.